Inexpensive Marketing for New Agents (The Final Chapter)

Final Chapter for this series anyway.  More thoughts and ideas coming soon.

In the past posts, we have discussed different methods of marketing yourself with less cash outlay than commercially printed material.   Now that we have our post-cards, newsletters and data base set-up, let's put it to work.

There are several areas we can use all the tools you now have at hand.  Postcards can simply be mailed to our farm and/or sphere.  The same with newsletters.  In my humble opinion, let me just say in 11 years in real estate, I have received 99% more business from my sphere of influence (people I know) than in farming an area.  Farming areas can pay off, but the cost of mailing to large subdivisions on a regular basis when you are new in the business can break the bank pretty quick.  A lot of large businesses have gone belly up because they grew too fast and could not handle the load.  Those with longevity keep to a slow steady growth, taking the baby steps.  I agree with that philosophy.  I also believe that the larger your sphere the faster your business will grow.  On the other hand you can only accommodate so many people by yourself.  Alone I don't believe your sphere should grow beyond 250 people.  That is not open to debate, just my personal feeling.

So, market to your sphere making them your most important and dearest friends.  Mail them the newsletters, send them the postcards of Just Listed and Just Sold.  Let them know you "Did It Again!"  These folks should be the main target of the postcard and newsletters.  If you want to farm an area with the newsletters, pick a small neighborhood of around 200 homes.  This will keep your costs down and your efforts will have greater penetration into your area.  You can always expand as your business grows.

Let's talk now about the brochures.  Again, many agents have different views on their effectiveness.  If you think about it, what is the purpose of a brochure?  What's the purpose of a business card?  The business card gets your name and contact information out to people, but do they know anymore about you than they did before they saw your card?  Not really, other than knowing your a Realtor.  Brochures paint a picture about you, your business, your philosophy, what you do, how you do it and how it benefits them.  Try using your brochures at open houses.  You want to talk to the people and have them remember you, don't you?  How many other agents hand them a brochure as they are leaving and ask them to take a moment after they finish looking at homes and learn a little about you.  Ask them to call you if they have any questions about any of the homes they have viewed.  This is one more opportunity to put something in their hands that no one else even offered.  Just in that aspect, you have given them something to remember about you.

Have you ever left business cards in one of those business card holders at your, dry-cleaners, hairstylist, barber, nail salon, etc.  Do you get tons of calls?  When I see these, I ask myself,  "What is this person asking of me?"  Do they think just because I see their card I'm going to run to the phone?  Again, it comes back to the amount of knowledge they have of you.  I think all the places mentioned above and anywhere there is good flow of the public is a great place for brochures.

I'll give you another area that is great.  Next to the plaza where my office is located, there is a bank, and in the lobby they have a rack for agents to place fliers of their listings.  Pages upon pages of pictures of homes, with the little agents picture at the bottom of the listing sheet.  Oh Yeah!  Not one of them has their listings sheet with a brochure attached.  Now, I stand out.

You now have some ideas to help you get started and grow your business.  I have given some suggestions and advice, but there are certainly more avenues to market yourself and opportunities to get noticed.  Go out, have fun and make yourself known.